5 Favourite Symphonies?

I've recently begun listening to more symphonic work and i was curious as to what everyone on YC found to be their top 5 favourite symphonies?

Appologies if this has already been covered in a thread

My favourites thus far are:

1. Symphony 7 - Ralph Vaughan Williams

2. Symphony 3 - Felix Mendelssohn

3. Symphony 6 - Jean Sibelius

4. Symphony 4 - Havergal Brian

5. Symphony 7 - Ludwig van Beethoven

Oscar

I'll list my top five, in no particular order:

Barber: Symphony No. 1

Corigliano: Symphony No. 1 (That police whistle in the 2nd movement still haunts me to this day...)

Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 (5?); "From the New World" (Beautiful music...and also very screamo, for classical. Fiery!)

Piston: Symphony No. 6

Rouse: Symphony No. 1

My top 5, in no particular order, with the exception that Sib 7 is No. 1:

1. Barber, Symphony No. 2

2. Sibelius, Symphony No. 7

3. Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3

4. Berio, Sinfonia

5. Messiaen, Turangalila-Symphonie

Honorable Mentions: Webern, Symphonie, Bruckner, Symphony No. 9, Carter, Symphony No. 1, Janacek, Sinfonietta

I need to listen to Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 5. Something I've been procrastinating on...

1. Sibelius: Symphony No. 3

2. Elgar: Symphony No. 2

3. Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony

4. Brahms: Symphony No. 2

5. Sibelius: Kullervo Symphony

Honourable Mentions; Hindemith: Mathis der Maler Symphony; Mahler: Symphony No.7; Thomas Ades: Tevot (a symphony in all but name)

I'm afraid I have more than 5 "favorites" but I think in these ones:

1 Shostakovich - Symphony No. 11

2 Mahler - Symphony No.6

3 Mahler - Symphony No.7

4 Bruckner - Symphony No.9

5 Beethoven - Symphony No.9

Also Gorecki, Honegger and others...

1. Rachmaninoff - Symphony No.2

2. Prokofiev - Symphony No.5

3. Mahler - Symphony No.1

4. Alkan - Symphony for solo piano

5. Dvorak - Symphony No.9

Not really in order of favorites

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 14

Berio - Sinfonia

Schnittke - Concerto Grosso No. 4/ Symphony No. 5

Webern - Symphonie

Bart

Symphony no. 4- Sibelius

Symphony no. 7- Sibelius

Symphony no. 6- Arnell

Symphony no. 9- Bruckner

Symphony of a thousand- Mahler

1. Olivier Messiaen - Turangalila Symphonie

2. Robert Simpson - Symphony No. 9 (GO LISTEN TO THIS, NOW.)

3. Henri Dutilleux - Symphony No. 2

4. Witold Lutoslawski - Symphony No. 3

5. Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13

Honorable mentions: Penderecki - Symphony No. 8, Mahler - Symphony No. 10

Brahms - Symphony 3

Prokofiev - Symphony 5

Beethoven - Symphony 8 (and 1st movement of 9)

Mendelssohn - Symphony 3 (Italian)

Bach - Opening Sinfonia of St john's Passion (hey you said symphony)

Honorable mentions - Webern Symphonies, Hadyn's No 48 (St Theresa), Mahler 9

Yes, fairly conservative.

Corbin - LOL - you only gave top 3!

Corbin - LOL - you only gave top 3!

Symphony bars come in 3 flavors... that accounts for the other two. :blush:

1. Mahler 5

2. Mozart 40

3. Brahms 3

4. Nielsen 1

5. Shostakovich 5

=D

In no particular order, and among many more:

1. Sibelius 2

2. Mahler 6

3. Lutoslawski 3

4. Webern 1

5. Rouse 1

1. Mahler Symphony 8

2. Bruckner Symphony 9

3. Sibelius Symphony 7

4. Prometheus Symphony (Scriabin)

5. Turangilila Symphony (Messiaen)

1. 2nd Symphony - J. Sibelius

2. 6th Symphony - G. Mahler

3. 9th Symphony - L. V. Beethoven

4. 45th ("Farewell") and 94th ("Surprise") - J. Haydn

5. 1st ("Classical") - S. Prokofiev

I know that they're all very famous, but that's my top 5... if it had been "Major orchestral works" and not "symphonies" I'd have more interesting things to mention...

I totally forgot to add Dvorak's 8th (sometimes referred to as the 4th) in G Major, which I think is one of the best things ever written in the history of anything, ever.

1st Symphony (Rachmaninov)

6th Symphony (Sibelius)

7th Symphony (Dvorak)

7th Symphony (Mahler)

13th Symphony (Shostakovich)

many favorites (I know its impossible :D but I cannot choose)

I usually listen a period the complete symphonies of one composer and after a while another, so all symphonies kind of mix up in my head...

Shostakovich 10 (and 1 and 4 are funny, 5 and 6 are great. The war-triology (7-9) is superb, 11 and 12 are slow but massive. 13 is the first I heard of him, opening is huge!)

Prokofiev 5 (1 is funny, 2 and 3 are crazy :D ; 4 is relaxed 5 till 7 are great too...)

Brahms 1 and 3 (2 is okay... 4 too, it used to be a fav, still a beauty, but heard it too often)

Tschaikofksy's Manfred symphony , and 5th and 6th, in fact all are good, 2 and 3 oh... (anyone said him already?)

Mahler only the 6th (maybe 1 and 2 also...)

I like to mention the symphonietta by Poulenc, and the 2nd by Khrennikov as honorary mentions

In no particular order:

Beethoven's 9th

Beethoven's 10th (Unfinished)

Mahler's 8th

Mahler's 9th

Mahler's 10th (Unfinished)

Rachmaninoff's 1st

Rachmaninoff's 3rd

My 7 favs. That's 5 if you don't include the two unfinished ones. :P

A few notes about the two unfinished symphonies: Beethoven's 10th was realized from mainly a few sketches. Mahler's 10th was more complete though, even though it had to be realized.

Not in any real order,

Mahler Symphony 8

Glass Symphony 4

Beethoven symphony 3

Mahler symphony 5

Beethoven symphony 7

1. Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 100 "Military"

2. Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"

3. Wolfgang Mozart - Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"

5. Leopold Mozart - Symphony "Peasant's Wedding"

4. Samuel Wesley - Symphony in B flat

Tough to pick only five but the ones I'll always have on my playlist are:

1. Beethoven's 7th

2. Brahms' 1st

3. Mahler's 2nd

4. Mozart's 40th

5. Tchaikovsky's 4th

In order,

Sibelius 4

Bruckner 9 (4 movement versions)

Sibelius 7

Alkan symphony for piano (does this count?)

Jon Liefs 1

Arnell 3

Mahler 10

Stravinsky "symphony in 3 movements"

Edit: Sorry I forgot we were supposed to do 5 :blush: